Row brews over tech hub EIA backing

The Environmental Protection Department hit back at green groups over criticisms of its approval of the environmental impact assessment report for the San Tin Technopole project, maintaining it was conducted in a scientific and professional manner.

This came after the department approved the EIA report with conditions on Friday.

However, three green groups - the Conservancy Association, Greenpeace and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society - have criticized the report, claiming it contains at least 35 major errors and expressing disappointment over the department's approval.

The department defended the EIA, saying "it adheres to the standards set by the EIA Ordinance and its technical memorandum.

"Government departments were involved in reviewing the report across their respective areas of responsibility."

It also said the EIA process was transparent, with project briefs and two stages of public consultation available online for the public and the Advisory Council on the Environment to provide input.

The department said "it approved the report after ensuring it met all legal requirements and standards."

The green groups had argued that the approval conditions were too minor to effectively mitigate the ecological damage from the large-scale filling of wetlands.

In reply, the department said the report proposes preserving core areas of the Mai Po Nature Reserve's egretries and forest land at Pang Loon Tei.

"The EIA study included a 12-month baseline ecological survey, examining bird flight paths over the egretries and their night habitats," it said, adding it also accounted for indirect impact on egrets and herons due to the loss of feeding grounds and other disturbances.

The assessment recommends designating non-construction sites and implementing stringent building height restrictions to maintain a 300-meter-wide bird flight corridor and a 70-meter-wide light path for egrets.

The department noted that the current bird flight corridor along the Tuen Mun River is only 75 meters wide, so the proposed measures would provide sufficient protection.

"The report includes measures to protect Eurasian otters and enhance the ecological function and capacity of the fishpond wetlands, such as merging smaller ponds into larger water bodies, creating artificial habitat islands, and lowering water levels to improve environmental quality," it said.